Police Detective Arrested on Drug Charges

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An area police detective was arrested without incident this morning on charges that he allegedly possessed with the intent to distribute controlled substances.

Tye L. Downard, 43, of Westerville, allegedly made more than 20 deliveries of narcotics between October 2015 and February 2016, including heroin, cocaine, marijuana and Percocet pills.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, John F. Oleskowicz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Field Office, Joseph P. Reagan, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the charges.

According to court documents, Downard was employed as a detective at the Reynoldsburg Police Department throughout the investigation, which began after the FBI Public Corruption Task Force received information that Downard was using his official position to engage in illegal activity.

It is alleged that, on 21 occasions between October 2015 and February 2016, Downard delivered drugs to an individual to sell. The complaint further alleges that Downard seized blue-and-white Percocet pills during a search warrant and provided blue-and-white Percocet pills to the individual to sell two days later. Likewise, Downard was involved in the execution of a search warrant that yielded several green glass canning-style jars containing harvested marijuana buds. The next day, Downard allegedly provided the individual with four green glass canning-style jars containing harvested marijuana buds.

Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Department of Justice OIG and DEA for their investigative work, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Glenn-Applegate, Salvador A. Dominguez, and Jessica W. Knight, who are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.